Internet video users to reach two billion by 2017

Global IP traffic will grow three-fold between 2012 and 2017 with the number of internet video users to reach two billion by 2017, according to new figures by networking equipment firm Cisco.

The Cisco Visual Networking Index Forecast predicts that globally, there will be nearly two billion internet video users, excluding mobile-only, by 2017, up from one billion Internet video users in 2012, said Cisco. Some three trillion internet video minutes will be generated per month, equivalent to 6 million years of video per month or 1.2 million video minutes every second.

Cisco predicted that by 2017, 3D and HD Internet video will comprise 63% of consumer internet video traffic. It also said internet video-to-TV traffic will increase nearly 5-fold between 2012 and 2017, from 1.3 exabytes per month to 6.5 exabytes per month.

Video is also tipped to account for 58% of all business internet traffic in 2017, up from 31% in 2012.

Overall, the firm said that global IP traffic, both fixed and mobile, will reach an annual run rate of 1.4 zettabytes ― more than a trillion gigabytes per year – by 2017. On a monthly basis this is expected to reach nearly 121 exabytes per month by 2017, up from about 44 exabytes per month in 2012.